al-Qawaid al-Arba (Matbu ضمن Muallafat al-Shaykh Mjmd bin Abd al-Wahhab, al-Juz al-Awwal)
- Author died
- 1206 AH
- Editions
- Jāmiʿat al-Imām Muḥammad ibn Saʿūd
al-Qawa'id al-Arba' (The Four Rules) is a short theological treatise on Islamic creed by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1206 AH / 1792 CE) that outlines four fundamental principles distinguishing monotheism (tawhid) from polytheism (shirk) .
Prologue and Theological Premise
The author opens the epistle with a supplication asking God to guide, protect, and bless the seeker of knowledge, and to make the reader among those who give thanks when bestowed with blessings, remain patient when afflicted, and seek forgiveness when committing a sin—identifying these three traits as the foundation of happiness . He then defines the primordial religion of pure monotheism (al-Hanifiyyah), the creed of Abraham, as worshipping God alone with sincere devotion, citing the verse: وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالأِنْسَ إِلاَّ لِيَعْبُدُونِ ("And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me") .
The text establishes that an act of worship is not validly recognized as worship without tawhid, drawing an analogy to ritual prayer, which is nullified without ritual purity (taharah) . Consequently, if associationism (shirk) mixes with worship, it ruins the deed and renders the person among those who dwell eternally in Hellfire, making the comprehension of shirk and its mechanisms essential for salvation .
The Four Principles
The core of the treatise presents four foundational rules derived from the Quran:
- The First Rule: The disbelievers whom the Prophet Muhammad fought acknowledged God's lordship (tawhid al-rububiyyah)—affirming that God alone is the Creator, Provider, and Regulator of all affairs—yet this affirmation alone was insufficient to enter them into Islam . The author cites Surah Yunus: قُلْ مَنْ يَرْزُقُكُمْ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالأَرْضِ أَمَّنْ يَمْلِكُ السَّمْعَ وَالأَبْصَارَ وَمَنْ يُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَيُخْرِجُ الْمَيِّتَ مِنَ الْحَيِّ وَمَنْ يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ فَسَيَقُولُونَ اللَّهُ فَقُلْ أَفَلا تَتَّقُونَ ("Say, 'Who provides for you from the heaven and the earth? Or who controls hearing and sight and who brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living and who arranges every matter?' They will say, 'Allah.' So say, 'Then will you not fear Him?'") .
- The Second Rule: The polytheists justified invoking and turning to intermediaries not because they believed those beings created or sustained, but solely to seek closeness (qurbah) and intercession (shafa'ah) with God . The text demonstrates this through Surah al-Zumar: وَالَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلَّا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَى ("And those who take protectors besides Him [say], 'We only worship them that they may bring us nearer to Allah in position'") and Surah Yunus: وَيَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لا يَضُرُّهُمْ وَلا يَنْفَعُهُمْ وَيَقُولُونَ هَؤُلاءِ شُفَعَاؤُنَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ ("And they worship other than Allah that which neither harms them nor benefits them, and they say, 'These are our intercessors with Allah'") .
- The Third Rule: The Prophet encountered people with diverse objects of devotion—some worshipped angels, others worshipped prophets and righteous individuals, others worshipped trees and stones, and others worshipped the sun and moon—yet he fought them all without drawing a distinction based on the status of the entity worshipped .
- The Fourth Rule: The polytheists of later eras engaged in a more severe form of shirk than the early polytheists; the earlier polytheists committed shirk during times of prosperity and ease but directed their prayers sincerely to God alone during times of hardship, whereas later polytheists practiced association continuously in both ease and adversity . The author references Surah al-'Ankabut: فَإِذَا رَكِبُوا فِي الْفُلْكِ دَعَوُا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ فَلَمَّا نَجَّاهُمْ إِلَى الْبَرِّ إِذَا هُمْ يُشْرِكُونَ ("And when they board a ship, they supplicate Allah, sincere to Him in religion. But when He delivers them to the land, at once they associate others with Him") .
Transmission and Publication
The treatise is frequently transmitted and published as an independent text, as well as grouped alongside other fundamental primers by the author, such as Thalathat al-Usul (The Three Principles) and Shurut al-Salah (The Conditions of Prayer) . It is collected within the first volume (creed section) of Mu'allafat al-Shaykh al-Imam Muhammad bin 'Abd al-Wahhab published by Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University .
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